The Continuing Adventures of Scoot and Stiles
by SparklingIcicles
Summary: The adventures of little Scott (aka Scoot) and Stiles throughout elementary school. Scott is a sensitive little sweetheart, Stiles has more energy than is safe, Allison is shy but loyal, and Lydia is a tiny feminist and future president. A collection of one-shots. Lots of fluff, humor, and adorable angst.
1. The Origin of Scoot

**Kindergarten**

**Age: 5**

* * *

"Mom!" Scott came running down the hall to the kitchen, where Melissa was making dinner. His little shoes squeaked on the wood floors. "Mom, mom! Look! Look what I did!"

"What did you do, baby?" Melissa looked up briefly from the potatoes she was slicing.

"We got folders at school today for our color papers and we had to write our names on them and I wrote my S the right way! I showed it to Mrs. Ross and she said it was real good! Look!" He brandished his red folder at his mom proudly, his smile all dimples.

"Aww, that's great, honey." She took the folder and her smile drooped a little. "Well, you got your S right…"

"What's wrong?" Scott reached his hand out, trying to snatch his folder back from his mother as he saw her face change. She held it out of his reach.

"You spelled your name wrong. It says Scoot, not Scott."

"Nuh uh!" Scott protested. "I showed it to teacher! It has my name on it!"

"Is your name Scoot?" Melissa teased. She handed the folder back to the little boy. Scott grasped it in both hands. "See? It has two O's instead of two T's." Sure enough, the word _Scoot_ was emblazoned across the cover.

"It's 'supposed to say Scott," he said sadly. Tears started to fill his eyes. He had showed it to Mrs. Ross! He showed her and she didn't say anything! Did she know his name was Scott and not Scoot?

Melissa knelt down and put her warm hand on her son's round shoulder when she saw the tears threatening in his eyes. Scott had always been an easy crier. "It's okay. Maybe you can ask your teacher for another folder tomorrow."

"No!" Scott wailed. "She said she only had enough for us to have one and we had to be really careful when we wrote our names. We had to write in marker so we couldn't undo it. That's why I was real, real careful when I wrote my S! Now my folder is gonna say Scoot on it forever!"

"Oh, it's okay, baby." Melissa felt bad for her son, but at the same time found it difficult not to laugh. "I'm sure no one's going to notice. You showed it to Mrs. Ross and she didn't see anything wrong with it, did she?"

"No," Scott said grumpily.

"See?" Melissa tried to reason. "I'm sure if your teacher didn't notice it, no one else is going to notice it either. The only thing they're going to see is how pretty your S is."

"I guess so," Scott allowed. Maybe it wasn't a big deal after all.

"Well, I know so." Melissa turned back to her potatoes. "Go wash up for dinner and you can help me set the table."

"Okay!" Scott was all smiles again and he bounded off to the bathroom to wash his hands. Melissa waited a few moments to hear him splashing around in the sink.

"Hurry up, Scoot!" She couldn't resist. It was just too cute.

"Mom!" Scott called back, annoyed.

* * *

"Okay, kids!" Mrs. Ross called out to the class the next day. She was a nice woman and an experienced teacher, but her curly blonde hair seemed to get wilder and frizzier as the day wore on. "It's time for colors. Get out your folders, please. Who remembers what color our color folders are?"

"RED!" The class called out in near unison. The pretty girl who sat at the table in front of Scott turned around to face him just as he was taking his folder out of his backpack. He thought her name was Lydia.

"I said it first," Lydia announced to Scott unnecessarily.

"No you didn't," Lydia's table partner argued. "We all said it at the same time. But if it was a race, I totally won."

"No you didn't, Jackson!" Lydia said too loudly. "I was first, not you!" She whipped around to face Scott again. "I was first, wasn't I?" She glanced down at his folder. "Your name is Scoot?"

"No!" Scott covered his folder with his hands. "My name is Scott. It says Scott."

"It says Scoot." Her argument with Jackson was completely forgotten. "I saw it and I'm a good reader. My mom says I'm an exspellent reader. It says Scoot."

"Your name is Scoot?!" The hyperactive boy sharing Scott's table burst into the conversation.

"No," Scott tried to say, but Stiles ignored him.

"That is the coolest name ever! I wish my name was Scoot, but it's not. It's Stiles. Well, that's not my real name. My real name is really hard to say and I don't like it, so everybody calls me Stiles. It's not as cool as Scoot though," Stiles broke off his rambling to look away longingly. "Hey! Maybe I can ask my mom if my name can be Scoot, too! Then we'll be twins!"

Lydia looked at Stiles with the most disparaging look her five-year-old self could muster. "His name isn't _Scoot_, Stiles. It's _Scott_."

"Nuh uh!" Stiles disagreed. "It says Scoot right there!" He forced Scott's hands away from his mismarked folder. "See? Tell her, Scoot!"

"Stiles," Mrs. Ross called. "It's time to be quiet now. We need to work on our colors."

"It's okay, Scoot," Stiles said in a whisper that was only marginally softer than his regular speaking voice. "I already know all my colors, I can help you with yours. We're friends now, right? Best friends?"

Scott smiled back at him. "Twins."

* * *

**Disclaimer: We do not own Teen Wolf or any of it's characters. The only original character so far is Mrs. Ross. **

**A/N: So, this originally started off as a one-shot idea but the more we developed it the more we fell in love with the idea and thus it became its own series. We actually got the idea from Dylana (the writer) constantly misspelling Scott's name in our other fic, In Exchange. Instead of a linear story it's going to be a series of one-shots focusing on different occurrences in these kids' lives. We already have a ton of ideas for this series but welcome and look forward to any prompt suggestions! As always, please read and review if you want more or want to make any suggestions. Thanks!**


	2. Melissa's Sleepover Diagnosis

**Kindergarten **

**Age: 5**

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to have them stay over here?" Stilinski asked over the noise of Scott and Stiles banging around somewhere overhead.

"Really, we don't mind at all," Claudia insisted. "Scott's such a sweet boy, it wouldn't be any trouble."

"No, I still think it would be better if Stiles came over," said Melissa. "Scott is really excited about it, but I don't think he's ready to spend a night away from home yet. He gets homesick really easily."

Scott had been talking nonstop about wanting to have a sleepover with his new best friend, Stiles Stilinski, for weeks. From the way he talked about him, it would seem as though Stiles hung the moon. Every day after school, Melissa was treated with yet another story about what Stiles had said or what Stiles had done or a new idea that Stiles had had. So after several weeks of constantly pestering, Melissa had finally given in and called the Stilinskis to make the arrangements. She had been friends with Officer Stilinski for years from seeing him at the hospital. They lived relatively close and so the police officer often came by to let Melissa know if anything was happening in the area. However, he seemed very reluctant to let his son spend the night at her house.

"Alright," Stilinski said with a sigh. "It's just… Stiles has _a lot_ of energy, as I'm sure you've noticed."

"Yes," Melissa laughed. "So does Scott, as I'm sure _you've_ noticed," pointing overhead where the boys' shrieks and scuffling could be heard.

"I mean it," the officer warned. "He can be a handful."

"I'm sure I can handle it," Melissa answered stiffly.

"I'm sure you can, too," Claudia said, shooting her husband a look. "But don't hesitate to call if things get out of hand. I'll go see if they're ready to go."

"I'm sorry," Stilinski mumbled once his wife had disappeared up the stairs. "Stiles is a good boy and I'm sure you're a wonderful mother, but he can be pretty wild sometimes. I don't want you to regret letting him come over."

"It will be fine. After working at the hospital as long as I have, I think I can handle anything."

"I certainly hope so."

* * *

The five minute drive back to the house had never seemed so long before. After racing Scott to the car and throwing himself haphazardly into the backseat, Stiles never shut his mouth. "Do you like Kim Possible? Have you ever seen Kim Possible? I really like that show. I like Rufus. He's a naked mole rat. But guess what. He's not a mole_ or_ a rat! He's something else. I don't know what it is but he's pink. Did you know it has its own movie? I want my own movie. I have it in my backpack so we can watch it tonight. It's so cool. This new guy shows up at Kim's school and Ron doesn't like him but Kim does and it turns out that he's Dr. Drakken's son but he's not really his son and then they melt him! It's so cool! Hey, I know! We could play Kim Possible at recess next time! I wanna be Kim. Wait, no. Maybe we can get Lydia to be Kim 'cause they have the same hair. And Allison can be Shego. You have to be Dr. Drakken because I have to be Ron. He's not as cool as Kim but if Lydia's Kim I have to be Ron. Do you think she'd play with us? Maybe if we ask Danny he'll ask her for us. Who could Danny be though? He could be Rufus, I guess. What do you think, Scoot?"

"Okay, we're here!" Melissa called over Stiles' constant chatter as she pulled into the driveway. She got out of the car quickly and gave herself a second to breathe before letting the kids out. Stiles rocketed out of the car and ran to the door, yanking on the handle.

"Is it locked?" he asked loudly.

"Yes."

"Can you unlock it, please?"

"I'm about to, hold on. Did you get everything from the car?"

Stiles spun around, looking over his shoulder at his bright green backpack. "Yep!"

"Good," Melissa opened the door and the two little boys shot by her.

"Is your room up here?" Stiles yelled as he thundered up the stairs, Scott right behind him.

Melissa threw herself on the couch, already exhausted.

* * *

"This is my room," Scott said as he opened the door for his best friend. His mom made him clean his room up really good before they went to pick up Stiles and Scott couldn't help but be kind of proud of it. All of his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures were dusted and lined up on his shelf next to his small collection of Hot Wheels. His mom had even come in and helped him hang his model fighter jet from his ceiling so it looked like it was actually flying.

"Wow, Scoot." Stiles threw his backpack down and flopped on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle themed bed spread. Scott crawled onto the bed and laid down next to him. "Your room is so clean. My room never looks like this. My mom keeps telling me she's going to throw away my stuff if I don't pick it up, but she never does. Cleaning is so boring."

"Yeah, I guess," Scott said. He'd never really thought about it that much. He liked things being neat.

"Oh, cool! You have the Ninja Turtles!" Stiles launched himself off the bed and grabbed an action figure from Scott's shelf. "Who's your favorite? I like Mikey a lot, but Donatello's cool, too."

"I like Leonardo," Scott picked up the blue-masked turtle.

"Well, yeah. Everybody like him."

"What do you want to do?" Scott carefully put Leonardo back in his spot on the shelf.

"Do you have anything to do outside? I heard Lydia has a pool. Do you have a pool? I didn't bring my swim trunks."

"No, but I have a trampoline. We have to ask my mom if we can jump on it, though."

"YOU HAVE A TRAMPOLINE?!" Stiles shouted, Michelangelo dropping from his hand, instantly forgotten.

"Yeah. Do you wanna ask my mom if we can go play on it?"

"Yes!" Stiles was already heading down the stairs. "I'll ask her for you."

Melissa was still lying on the couch with her eyes closed when the boys came back into the living room. "So, how do you like Scott's room, Stiles? Doesn't it look nice?" she asked without sitting up.

"Mrs. Scoot's Mom?" Stiles stood with his face directly over Melissa's, ignoring her questions completely. "Can we go jump on the trampoline?"

Melissa opened her eyes and was startled to see Stiles so close. "Oh, God, Stiles. You scared me. Back up and let me sit up. Now, what do you want to do?"

"Jump on the trampoline," Scott chimed in. "Can we, Mom? Please?"

"Sure, baby. Just make sure you take your shoes off and leave your socks on."

"Yay!" Stiles screamed as he and Scott ran through the kitchen to the back door.

"Thanks, Mom," Scott yelled before he slammed the door behind him.

Melissa groaned when she stood up. It was only 5:30 and she was already spent. Maybe Stilinski had had a point. Maybe it would have been better to leave Scott there instead. _Oh well_, she thought. _At least they're outside now. Maybe I can convince them to stay out there until bedtime._

She gave them a few minutes outside by themselves before going out to check on them. She wanted to let Scott have some privacy with his friend. He was always so good about obeying the rules she set that she didn't worry much about what he was doing without her. Honestly, she was just relieved he was making friends at all. She and her husband had been so worried about him starting kindergarten. Scott was always so quiet and sensitive, she was afraid he wouldn't be able to open up enough to make a friend. Scott's silence didn't seem to be much of a problem with Stiles Stilinski, though. He seemed to do enough talking for the two of them.

After about fifteen minutes she went out the check on the boys. Scott was standing underneath a tree, looking up into the branches.

"Baby, what are you doing? Where's Stiles?"

"I'm up here!" a voice called from the tree.

"Why are you in the tree?"

"I'm not stuck!"

"That's not what I asked. Scott, why is he in the tree?"

"Well, we were jumping on the trampoline, but then Stiles saw the tree and wanted to climb it. I told him that I couldn't climb it because it was too high up, but he said that he could and then he climbed the tree."

Melissa sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead. "Stiles, get out of the tree please. I gave you permission to jump on the trampoline, not climb the tree. It's my day off, I'm trying to avoid some broken bones here."

"Okay, okay," Stiles said from above. "Hold on." The leaves rustle and Melissa heard him grunt as twigs snap and fall to the ground. She crossed her arms as she waits. And to think that she imagined having a quiet evening.

A moment later, Stiles fell out of the tree, landing on his feet before falling backwards onto his bottom.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked, running over to his friend to help him up.

"That was awesome!" Stiles answered, apparently unscathed. "I think I cut my arm."

"Let me see," Melissa took the arm he presented and looked it over. There was a long, thin scratch trailing from his elbow to his wrist. "It's just a scratch. You'll be fine."

"Sorry about climbing the tree, Mrs. Scoot's Mom," Stiles apologized, looking genuinely sorry. "You're not going to send me home, are you?"

Scott looked at her, stricken. "Don't send him home, Mom! He just got here!"

"I'm not going to send you home," said Melissa. "Just stay on the trampoline for a while, okay? Don't climb any more trees without asking me first. Deal?"

"Deal!"

"Good. Now, who wants pizza for dinner?"

* * *

Melissa stood in the kitchen later that night, her phone pressed to her ear. She'd gotten the kids into bed a while before and had to wait a good 45 minutes before their excited whispering and hushed giggling quietened down as they fell asleep. She had let them eat their dinner in the living room while they watched the movie Stiles brought with him. Stiles was so excited about getting to eat while watching TV that he had a hard time sitting still and kept bouncing up and down on the couch while he ate. After the movie was over, Melissa sent them outside to run off the rest of their energy before trying to get them to settle down.

She twisted the phone cord in between her fingers nervously while she waited for someone to pick up. _It's too late for this_, she thought to herself. _I could just wait and tell them in the morning._ She had almost made up her mind to hang up when she heard the line pick up.

"Hello?" Stilinski answered sleepily.

"Mr. Stilinski. Hi, this is Melissa."

"Oh, God. What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly wide awake. "Did Stiles get ahold of matches again?"

"What? No, no. Nothing like that. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I just wanted to let you know how things are going."

"Thank God," Stilinski breathed over the phone. "How's Stiles behaving? Any problems?"

"He's been pretty good. He's very … energetic."

Stilinski laughed. "Yeah, you're telling me. Try dealing with that all the time."

"Yeah. Look, um," Melissa braced herself for what she was about to say. "I know it isn't really my place, but I think there might be something more going on with Stiles than just having high energy. Have you ever had him tested for ADD or ADHD?"

"No, of course not. He's just a little kid. All little kids are energetic."

"It's not just the energy. Stiles seems to be really easily distracted. When he was playing with Scott tonight, he couldn't focus on one thing for very long before moving on to something else entirely. He could barely sit through his own movie that he brought over. I sent the boys outside to play on the trampoline and he's only on it for a few minutes before he's climbing a tree or running around the yard. These are all signs that he has trouble focusing on any one thing."

"So what are you saying? That I need to medicate my five-year-old?" Stilinski angrily demanded.

"No, I'm just saying that maybe you should have him tested. There are other treatments besides medication. There's behavioral therapy and things you can do together. I'm only saying something because I can tell that Stiles is a very bright kid. I would hate for him to struggle in school or anything else because he can't focus."

The line was silent for such a long time that Melissa started to think that the call had been disconnected when she heard Stilinski sigh. "You really think he's attention deficit?"

"I'm just saying that it's a possibility."

"Would… Would you be willing to talk to me and Claudia about it more when we pick him up in the morning? I don't want him to have problems in school or anything else if there's something we can do to help him."

Melissa smiled. "Sure. I'd be happy to."

"Well, thanks for the heads up. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Right. Good night, sir."

"Have a good night."

Melissa hung up the phone and sank into one of the kitchen chairs. She was surprised that she had gotten the police officer to listen to her so easily. He must have suspected that there was something going on with his son for him to accept her diagnosis so quickly.

"Mom?" a voice called softly from the hallway. Scott wandered sleepily into the kitchen, bleary-eyed and yawning.

"What's the matter, baby?"

"Can I have some water?"

"Sure, let me get it for you." She crossed to the dishwasher to pull out a clean cup and Scott climbed into her vacated seat at the table. "Is Stiles sleeping?" she asked, handing him his blue Ninja Turtles cup.

"Yeah. I almost tripped over him when I left my room."

"Uh-oh. At least you didn't wake him up. So, did you two have a good time tonight?"

Scott nodded and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his pajamas. "Yeah. Thank you for letting him come over. It was really cool."

"Having a sleepover?"

"Having a friend." He smiled and handed his empty cup back to his mom. "I'm gonna go back to bed."

"Okay, sweetheart." She kissed the top of his head. "Love you."

"Love you, too."

She put his cup in the sink once he had gone back upstairs. She looked at the window to the backyard and saw her reflection in the dark glass and smiled to herself.

**A/N: As always, please read and review if you have time. We really do look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks!**


	3. Recess Adventures: Hide and Seek

**Kindergarten**

**Age: 5**

* * *

"18, 19, 20. Ready or not, here I come!" Stiles uncovered his eyes and looked around excitedly for Scott. They had been playing hide and seek at recess for the past few days, but to not much success. Stiles couldn't wait in his hiding place without being distracted by something else long enough for Scott to find him, so Scott was forced to hide all the time if he wanted to play the game with his best friend. This was fine with Stiles, because now he had an excuse to run around the recess grounds and yell. However, Scott wasn't good enough at hiding for the game to last very long.

"Scoot," Stiles groaned dramatically. "You already hid there!"

Scott poked his head out from behind the clump of pine trees by the tether ball poles. "What? No I haven't!"

"Yeah huh!" Stiles protested. "You hid there yesterday!"

"That doesn't count!" Scott argued. "Yesterday doesn't count!"

"It does too!"

"That's not fair! There's not enough hiding spots out here!"

"Well, if you keep hiding in the same places, the game don't last enough to have fun!" Stiles whined.

"That's not my fault!" Scott pouted, pulling at the hem of his blue striped shirt. "You're too good at being it."

"I know!" Stiles shouted suddenly, grabbing Scott by the shoulders and shaking him. "We should have some more kids play with us. The game would be so much funner if we had more people playing! I wouldn't have to be it all the time or I could still be it and there would be more people to seek."

"I don't wanna play with anyone else," Scott mumbled. Stiles was the only person beside his mom or dad that he felt comfortable talking to. Everyone else in his class was pretty nice, except for maybe Jackson, but he didn't really talk to Scott much.

Stiles ignored him. "We should ask Lydia to play with us. Do you think Lydia would play with us? Oh my God, it would be so cool if she played hide and seek with us. Do you think she'd be it with me? That would be awesome. We should ask her." Lydia wasn't ever really mean to anyone, but she made Scott feel stupid. Stiles was obsessed with her though.

"C'mon, Scoot! Let's go ask her," Stiles said, dragging Scott towards Lydia. He dug the heels of his light-up sneakers into the grass, but Stiles pulled him along all the same.

Lydia was sitting in the wooden pen under the big blue slide on the other side of the playground. A shy girl with wavy brown hair and a small, quiet boy sat behind her, looking bored. Lydia ignored her friends completely as she was immersed in drawing numbers in the loose gravel and taking notes on her hand, using her diminutive finger as a pen.

"Hey, Lydia!" Stiles called as he marched over to her, towing a quietly protesting Scott behind him. "Lydia, hi." The redhead continued her work of furiously scribbling on her palm with her forefinger without looking up at the newcomers, though her two friends perked up at the possibility of a new game. "Don't be rude, Scoot," Stiles whispered loudly over his shoulder. "Say hi or she won't play with us." Scott didn't want to play with Lydia or her friends at all, but he waved hello nonetheless.

"Hi," Allison answered when Lydia continued to pretend Stiles wasn't there. The boy beside her smiled and waved.

"So, what are you doing?" Stiles asked, crouching down in front of Lydia and leaning his head down, trying to catch her eye.

"Playing house," Danny said miserably. Lydia finally looked up from her work at Danny's comment and sighed, exasperated.

"You don't get to talk, Danny. You're the dog, remember? You have to bark. And you," she rounded on Allison. "Don't talk to strangers," she shook her finger in Allison's face. "If you talk to strangers, you'll get kidnapped and never see your mommy again. And don't take candy from anybody you don't know, even if you really, really want it. Besides, we're not _playing_," she said as though it were a dirty word. "_I'm_ doing the taxes. It's very serious." Lydia was very grown up.

"Oh," Stiles said, straightening up. Scott dug a hole in the gravel with the tip of his shoe. "Well, can you be done doing the taxis? Because me and Scoot want to play hide and seek and we want more people to play so we can play longer. Do you wanna play with us? You can even be it first if you want to. Or me and you can be it together and we can look for everyone else. It's real easy, Scoot always hides in the same spot. Or do you want to hide first? I know a lotta good hiding spots. Hiding in the slide is hard though, 'cause you have to hold on the sides like this," he spread his arms and legs like a starfish to demonstrate, "and other people get mad at you 'cause they can't go down the slide when you're in it."

"No, Stiles," Lydia interrupted. "I have a lot of important work to do. Good bye."

Stiles opened his mouth to protest, looking hurt, but Allison cut him off. "Mommy?"

"Yes?" Lydia went back to her scribbling.

"Can I go play outside with the other kids? We'll stay in the yard."

"Where's the yard?" Stiles asked.

"Anywhere that's not in the house," Allison said, gesturing to the little pen she was squatting in.

"You'll stay in the yard the whole time?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah. Oh," Danny nudged her. "Can I bring Danny with me? He'll keep the strangers away, won't you, Danny?"

Danny barked in agreement.

Lydia made a show of pondering this for a while. "Fine," she eventually allowed. "Only if you take Danny with you and stay where I can see you."

"But we're playing hide and seek," Stiles said in confusion. "She has to hide if she's not it."

"Shh!" Allison hissed. She took Danny by the hand and led him out of the playpen, her arm acting as his "leash" until they were far enough away from Lydia to let go.

"Thanks for asking us to play," Danny said, wiping his hand on his shorts to get off any girl cooties Allison might have passed along. "Lydia always wants to play house, but I have to be the dog every time."

"Why don't you be the dad?" Scott asked, piping up for the first time.

"Lydia says she's too young to get married," Allison answered. "She wants to focus on her career."

"Oh," Scott was utterly confused.

"I'm it first!" Stiles yelled. "The middle pole on the swings is base. You only get to run after I find you though, okay?"

Soon the four of them were running around the playground, shrieking and laughing as they went. The noise disturbed Lydia, who was trying her best to ignore them. She lost count of her figures as Allison went zooming past the "house," Scott hot on her trail. A few minutes later, she heard Stiles shouting about some discrepancy in the rules he had made up that allowed him to choose who was going to be it if he didn't catch anyone. Danny was yelling back at him.

Lydia stared down at the marks she had painstakingly made in the gravel before wiping them out with her hands. She wasn't going to get any work done with all this racket. She crawled out of her playpen, dusted off her skirt, and stomped over to the scene of the argument. "No, you're playing wrong. If you're going to play hide and seek, you have to do it right."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for following this story and please leave a review if you enjoyed it. As always, if you have any ideas for adventures you'd like to see Scoot and Stiles go on please feel free to leave them in reviews or send us a PM. For those of you following our other story, In Exchange, we just wanted to let everyone know that the next two chapters are underway but will take some time to get out because we want to finish both before posting. Thanks again!**


	4. The Balancing Act

**First Grade**

**Age: 6**

* * *

"Is something bothering you, Scott?" Melissa asked over dinner. Tacos were usually Scott's favorite dinner, but tonight he had barely touched his food, instead breaking small pieces off the edges of the shell and pushing the lettuce around on his plate.

"No," Scott mumbled from the other side of the table. He picked a seed out of his tomato slice and moved it to the far edge of his dish.

"Then stop picking at your food and just eat it." Silence fell between them as Melissa continued to eat and Scott continued to pretend to eat. Mr. McCall was putting in yet another late night at the office and Melissa found the house oddly quiet without him. There had been a palpable tension between them lately, so much that she feared even Scott had noticed a change in the household. All the same, there was a certain peace in having the house and her son to herself, even if just for an evening. That is, there would be if Scott would just stop picking at his food.

Scott crunched his taco shell with the heel of his fork, still not eating. Melissa had finally had it and slammed down her empty glass. "I made tacos especially for you. If I had known you weren't going to eat, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble. We could have had cereal for all I care. So you can either eat your food or go to your room."

Scott's face reddened and Melissa instantly felt guilty. "I'm sorry," they both said simultaneously.

"Mom," Scott began a moment later after taking a meaningful bite of his taco.

"Yeah, baby?"

"Is Dad gonna be home this weekend?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. Her husband's schedule had been all over the place the last couple of months. He was putting in more and more late nights and long weekends, frequently leaving Melissa no choice but to call for a babysitter last minute or else drop Scott off with the Stilinskis so she could get to work on time. "Why? What's up?"

"I need to learn how to ride a two-wheeler bike."

Melissa was surprised. She was still impressed that he had made the jump from tricycle to big-boy-bike so easily. "I thought you liked your training wheels."

"I do," Scott admitted hesitantly. "But Stiles says his dad is gonna take the training wheels off his bike and that he's gonna ride his two-wheeler bike from now on."

"So what? Just because Stiles is taking his off doesn't mean you have to."

"Yes it does!" Scott's voice whined with insistence. "I'll look like a baby if I still have my training wheels on and he doesn't and he won't want to ride bikes with me anymore!"

"Baby, I'm sure _Stiles Stilinski_ would not care if you rode a two-wheeled bike, or your training-wheels bike, or your tricycle as long as you rode it with him. He just wants to ride bikes with you, okay?"

"Okay." He sounded utterly dejected.

"Is this something you really want to do?" Melissa asked frankly. "Don't think about what you think Stiles wants you to do. Think about you. Are you ready to take off your training wheels? Nobody's going to like you any less if you're not."

"I am!" Scott insisted.

"Alright. If you finish your tacos, I'll call Stiles' dad and ask if he would mind teaching you to ride your bike as well."

"Really?" Scott's face lit up. He jumped out of his seat and ran around the table to hug his mom, his small arms squeezing tight around her waist. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're coming too, right?"

"What? You think I'd miss seeing you take off your training wheels? You must be crazy."

* * *

"Alright kids, quiet down," Officer Stilinski called over his son's excited screaming. "There's five of you and only two of us, so everyone needs to listen up." Somehow, Stiles has interpreted his dad giving Scott permission to come learn to ride bikes with him as permission to invite all his friends over for a bike riding party. Melissa agreed to help him out since Claudia had already made plans before one-on-one bike class had become a full-fledged ordeal. Stiles was scooting around on his newly training wheel relieved red bicycle, ramming into the back wheel of Lydia's hot pink bike. Danny looked over from his place beside her, but said nothing.

"Okay," Stilinski said once the kids had calmed down some. "I want everyone to line up right here." He drew an invisible line with his foot on the deserted cul-de-sac road. The children obediently lined their bikes up where he indicated, though Scott hung back with Melissa.

"I wanna go with you," he said timidly, watching as Allison rode in circles behind the rest of the group on her glittery purple bicycle. She already knew how to ride without training wheels.

"No way. I'm just here to supervise," Melissa insisted. "You said you wanted Stiles' dad to teach you, so there you go." She pointed to the rowdy line up where Stilinski was trying to give instruction, though Danny seemed to be the only one listening as Stiles was trying to run his fingers through Lydia's streamers and she kept slapping his hand away.

Scott shook his head and pushed his green bike back subtly. Now that he was there, he wasn't so sure that he was ready after all. Especially since it wasn't just him and Stiles now and Allison was already so good at it. "Please," he whined. "I don't wanna go with him."

Melissa groaned. "That's why we came over today, so he could teach you to ride your bike. I'll be right here but Mr. Stilinski is going to be with one going with you. That's just the way it's going to be." She couldn't have Scott hanging on her all the time. He needed to be with his friends and have fun without constantly needing to have her pat him on the back.

Scott took a shuddering breath and rubbed his hands on the rubber grips of his handles. "Mr. Stilinski's a good teacher. Neither him or I will let anything bad happen, alright? I promise."

Scott looked at her warily, but nodded.

"Wait, where's Scoot," Stiles called from his place in front of his dad. "Scoot!"

"Go on," Melissa gave her son a gentle shove, propelling him towards his friends. "I'll be right back here."

"Okay, everyone," Stilinski was telling the rest of the kids. "Right now I just want to practice balancing. Leave your kickstands down for now and pick your feet up and try to balance."

Scott leaned forward and stood up on his toes. Suddenly, the ground seemed a lot farther away. Tentatively, he picked his feet up and immediately the bike swayed to the side. He slammed his feet back down and looked around to see if anyone saw. Danny was the only one who was successfully balancing. He was sitting up perfectly straight with his legs stiff out on either side of his faded yellow bike. He stared straight ahead as if his every fiber were focused on staying balanced. Lydia glared at him out of the corner of her eye as she struggled to stay stable. As soon as she got her balance, it would go just as quickly.

"Sit up straight," Stilinski advised. "Don't lean forward so much, Scott. You're riding a bike, not taking a nap." Scott's face flushed in embarrassment and he straightened up. He sat as straight as he could in his seat, trying to mimic Danny's posture as much as possible. He lifted his feet from the ground, wobbling slightly but staying upright this time. He looked over his shoulder at his mom, grinning ear to ear. She gave him a thumbs up.

Beside him, Stiles didn't seem to be trying at all. Rather than lifting his feet slowly from the pavement to try to find his balance like everyone else, Stiles enthusiastically kicked his feet out in front of him and instantly fell to the right, the opposite side of his kickstand. He hit the ground with a light thud, his thick helmet scraping the gravel.

"Stiles, what the hel- heck?" Stilinski pulled his son to his feet, his bike still between his legs. "What did you think was going to happen?"

"I was tryin' to balance!"

"No, you were trying to be funny. Here," Stilinski held Stiles' handlebars, keeping his bicycle steady. "Pick your feet up really slow and sit up straight. Straighter. There." He let go and took a step back. Stiles stayed upright, a look of shocked delight on his face. "Right, good job," Stilinski praised. "You got it, Lydia?"

"Yes," Lydia answered through gritted teeth. In truth, she was still wobbling a bit more than the boys, but she was doing better than she was before.

"Good. Alright, now we're going to do the same thing, but with the kickstand up. If you start to fall, put your feet down," Stilinski said as an afterthought, glancing at Stiles.

* * *

After everyone had gotten the hang of balancing, it was time to start actually moving. Scott felt his heart beat faster. What if he couldn't do it? Just plain couldn't do it? What if he fell? Or worse, what if he fell and nobody else did?

"Who wants to go first?" Stilinski asked. Everyone was suddenly quiet. Scott must not have been the only one feeling a little nervous.

Stiles' hand shot into the air. "Oh, I do! I do, pick me! Dad! Dad, pick me!"

"N-no," Stilinski said hesitantly. "Let's have ladies go first. Lydia, are you ready?"

"Okay," Lydia answered, suddenly shy. She pushed her bike out of line over to where Stilinski was waiting for her a few yards away.

"You're gonna do real good, Lydia!" Stiles called as she joined his dad.

"I'll watch everybody else while you go," Melissa told the man, coming forward from her place in the back. Allison rode forward with her, coming to a stop next to Danny to talk.

"What do you need me to do?" Lydia asked, sounding determined though her face was a little green.

"I'm going to hold on to the back of your seat, right here," Stilinski put his hand on her seat to show her and the waiting group. "You're going to ride as you normally would and I'm going to run behind you so you won't fall. If you see a car, stop and go to the side of the road. We'll go again once they've passed us. You ready, Lydia?"

She nodded. "So I just go?"

"Whenever you're ready. I'll follow your lead."

Lydia nearly fell three times before she got the hang of it. Stilinski caught her every time, but seeing her lose her balance made Scott anxious. He'd never seen Lydia not be good at something right away. Stilinski let go of her seat as she picked up speed and she had shrieked once she realized he was no longer trailing behind her. She rode back to the group, beaming proudly.

Danny had an easier time of it, only losing his balance once before taking off like a pro. Lydia decided his success was due to the wonderful example she had set by going first. After all, she hadn't had someone to set an example for her like she had done for him.

Scott hung back, letting Stiles go next.

Stiles had barely started before he slammed on his brakes, causing his dad to hit his shin on Stiles' back tire. "Car!" Stiles shouted, pointing.

"Parked cars don't count, Stiles."

"Oh. Well, you said…"

They started again. After several attempts, Stiles was riding on his own. However, when he looked behind him to see if his dad was there, he lost his balance and hit the pavement hard.

"Stiles!" Stilinski ran over to his son. "Are you alright? Let me see."

"I did it!" Stiles proclaimed. "I did it by myself, Dad! Oh," he looked down at his scraped palms. "Ow."

"Yeah, I know," Stilinski smiled. "You're alright. Good thing you had this thing on, right Bud?" He knocked on Stiles' helmet.

Stiles laughed. "Yeah."

"Ready to go again?"

"Yeah!"

Finally, it was Scott's turn. He pushed himself over to Stilinski, butterflies in his stomach. "How are you doing, Scott?" Stilinski asked quietly. "Are you ready?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. Everyone else had done so well.

"You'll be okay. I'll be right behind you the whole time."

"You won't let go?"

"Not unless you want me to," Stilinski assured.

Feeling a little better, Scott pushed off and started pedaling slowly. He felt himself losing his balance and put his feet down. "Sorry."

"No, that was good," insisted Stilinski. "Getting started is always the hardest part. It will be a lot easier once you get going. Let's try again."

Scott started pedaling again, this time picking up a little more speed. He could feel Stilinski's hand barely brushing against his back has he held onto the seat and could hear the pounding footfalls of him running along behind the bike. Feeling a bit more confident, Scott went faster. Stiles' dad was right, it _was_ easier the faster you went. The front wheel of his bike hit a rock, breaking Scott's concentration. Startled, Scott squeezed the handbrakes and skidded to a stop. Stilinski was still holding on to the back of his seat.

"That was really good, Scott. You were nearly there."

"I was?" Scott asked, surprised. It hadn't felt that much different to him.

"Yeah. Let's go again."

Scott picked up speed much faster this time, knowing that it would help him keep his balance. Despite his misgivings, he was actually enjoying himself. Why had he been so scared of this in the first place? Mr. Stilinski wasn't going to let anything happen to him. Scott was coming to the end of the street and knew he would have to turn back soon. Hopefully Stiles' dad would feel him turn so he wouldn't have to stop. He turned around just before he reached the stop sign at the end of the street was startled to see that he was by himself. He hadn't felt Stilinski let go at all. He was standing quite a ways back, clapping as Scott made his way back to the group. His mom whistled at him and he could see the delighted expression on her face even from a distance. Stiles, Allison, and Danny were all jumping up and down, cheering him on. Even Lydia was clapping.

He skidded to a stop just in front of his mom. He couldn't help but feel proud of himself.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing! We're still taking prompts so if you have any ideas, please PM us or leave us a message on Tumblr (dylanajane and itsmechaseanderson). We would love to hear from you and talk about your ideas. If any of you are following our other story, In Exchange, we're sorry about the long wait for updates. This next chapter is going to be hella long, so it's taking a long time to write. If you have any questions about our update schedule or the status of the chapter, leave us a message and we'll let you know. As always, thank you for your continued support. Read and review if you can.**


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